Pumpkin Carving
by Dawn of Chaos
Summary: All alone on Halloween he watched the other children run along the streets. They were having fun on that one night. He, however, wasn't. Sitting there he had a feeling that there would be nothing fun that would come his way.


He wasn't very concerned with most happenings at the end of the year; save for Halloween and Christmas. But one can't expect much of a six year old boy. Yet this year he's found sitting on the steps to the small three bedroom home he lives in rather than preparing for tonight's activities of trick-or-treating. It wasn't that he doesn't desire to go or that he doesn't have a costume – its the fact that his elder brother was away and his father is taking care of his mother, who had come down with a cold. For that reason he wraps his arms around his knees and sighs.

The small boy had expected a fun filled night of candy and costumes. At the rate his mother was recovering she'd be up in the morning. Then it would be too late and all the fun would be gone. One night a year he was allowed to indulge in all the sugary sweets – now it was ruined. His dark eyes glared up at the pitch-black sky – watching angrily as other children passed by, having the time of their life. A pumpkin filled to the brim with candy sat beside him. His father had told him to hand it out to the other children, the least he could do to be integrated into the Holiday. It wasn't enough for one Sasuke Uchiha.

Slowly the night passed him by and still he sat on the stairs. Most of the candy is gone from the plastic pumpkin either by eating it himself or giving it to those that dared to approach him. A pout tugged at his lips as he gave another unhappy sigh. It was worse that no one bothered to talk to him besides saying trick-or-treat and running off with their candy. However, right as he was about to dub the night as his 'worst Halloween ever' he heard an all too familiar voice in front of him.

"Why aren't you in your costume Sasuke?"

He lifted his head to look up at his big brother, Itachi; smile, dark eyes, and black hair pulled partly away from his face. "There's no point."

Itachi knelt down in front the young boy, setting down an adequately sized pumpkin – not too big and not too small. He reached up and poked Sasuke softly on the forehead. "I thought you looked cute."

The pout became worse with a tinge of pink on his cheeks. "It was supposed to be scary! Not cute," he grumbled.

"Why don't you help me carve this pumpkin – to make up for not taking you out." Sasuke stared down at him, watching as skilled hands plucked the pumpkin up from the ground and motioned for Sasuke to scoot out of the way. He hurried to his feet as his brother led them both inside the dark house. Straight to the kitchen they both stood in the bright room thanks to Itachi flicking the lights on. "Go get some paper to put on the ground."

Suddenly he was happy, anything to be with his brother – to help him. As much as he wanted to be just as successful at everything Itachi did, he knew he wouldn't be able to carve the pumpkin. Mother said he wasn't allowed to play with knives. So he hurried back with an armload of paper, dropping it on the ground in a neat pile. Itachi set the pumpkin on top of them and knelt down. In his hands was a knife. A sharp knife.

Without a second thought he sunk the knife into the top of the pumpkin, cutting around the stem in a rather lopsided circle. Sasuke watched in amazement as Itachi set the knife down and lifted the top of the pumpkin up, setting it down as well. A large spoon dangled in front of him. "You're going to help right Sasuke?"

He took hold of the handle just as Itachi grabbed up another one. Together they pulled out pumpkin's innards. Scoop after scoop until orange covered the paper around the pumpkin. It stuck to their fingers and the metal spoons. But they smiled to one another as Itachi picked up the knife once more, beginning to carve a face into the pumpkin. One triangle eye was revealed first, followed by a slim, curved line.

As if he could sense the question about to be thrown at him, Itachi turned to Sasuke. "It's winking."

Sasuke's mouth formed a small 'o' at the statement. He watched in silence as Itachi worked on the crooked mouth, adding two curved cutouts at the ends. "A winking...vampire pumpkin?"

Itachi nodded and stood up, wiping his hands on a towel before tossing it to Sasuke. "Go grab the matches and a small candle. Meet me outside."

No time was wasted as he scurried to out of the kitchen to dig through drawer after drawer. Finally he was able to find what Itachi had asked for. Sasuke rushed out the front door to see Itachi sitting the pumpkin down on the bottom step, holding the top of it in his hands. They exchanged items and Itachi placed the candle inside, lighting it and letting Sasuke put the top on. He tugged Sasuke back up the steps as some straggling children with their parents walked close to their home. Together they sat on the steps as the kids rushed up to get candy, their voices a chorus of 'trick-or-treat'.

Sasuke dropped candy into their extended bags, watching them run back to their parents' sides. He glanced up at Itachi to speak, but yawned instead. A smile flashed down at him and an arm tugged him close. Sasuke leaned against his big brother, eyes slowly drooping. "Next year I'll take you."

Barely shaking his head, the smaller boy smiled. "It's okay. As long as we get to carve a pumpkin next year."

Unable to deny him, Itachi muttered a soft 'yes' before realizing that Sasuke had drifted off into sleep. The raven-haired boy was picked up gently and carried inside – all the while he smiled, cracking one eye open as he stared back out to where the jack-o-lantern sat glowing in the night. Maybe it wasn't the worst Halloween ever.

* * *

_Brotherly love at it's finest~ Poor little Sasuke. But, uh, for a contest over on deviantart. Ideas from real life are lovely right? XD I couldn't take my own brother trick-or-treating. The only difference... I despise carving pumpkins. -.- So messy. But alas I'll do it, just not very well. XD_


End file.
